15Jan14

70 killed, 147 wounded in attacks in Iraq

At least 70 people were killed and 147 others wounded in violent attacks
across Iraq on Wednesday, most of them in the capital city of Baghdad and
eastern province of Diyala, police said.

In Baghdad, at least eight car bombs and two roadside bombs ripped through
busy areas in the capital during the day, killing a total of 39 people and
wounding 109 others, a police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

At least 14 people were killed and 25 others wounded when three bombs
exploded Wednesday morning at a funeral in the village of Shatib near
Diyala's provincial capital of Baquba, a local police source said.

Unidentified gunmen kidnapped seven truck drivers Wednesday evening near
the town of Muqdadiyah, 40 km northeast of Baquba, and then shot them
dead, the police source said, adding that their trucks were also burned.

At least six army soldiers were killed in a bombing attack at a bridge near the
northern city of Mosul on Wednesday, police said.

The blast also injured ten Iraqi soldiers when their patrol were crossing the
bridge in the area of Ain al-Jahsh, a local police told Xinhua.

Elsewhere, a car bomb went off at the entrance of the city of Dujail, some 60
km north of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding three others, a local
police source said.

The attacks came as Iraq is witnessing its worst violence in recent years,
which raised fears that the increasing violence could bring the country to
uncontrollable sectarian violence.

According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, a total of 8, 868 Iraqis,
including 7,818 civilians and civilian police personnel, were killed in 2013,
which is the highest annual death toll for years.

[Source: Xinhua, Baghdad, 15Jan14]

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